


With Pomp, with Triumph, and with Revelling

by khilari, Persephone_Kore



Series: Well Met [3]
Category: Girl Genius
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 16:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3297296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khilari/pseuds/khilari, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persephone_Kore/pseuds/Persephone_Kore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Begins immediately after <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/955354/chapters/1869456">Well Met at Mechanicsburg</a>. As soon as Tarvek's coronation is done, Barry and Donna return to planning a more personal ceremony. Castle Heterodyne wants blood, the courtyard is slightly on fire, the flowers are being eaten, the airship's been sabotaged, and there is some confusion over exactly who is kidnapping the bride. Everything goes perfectly!</p>
<p>(Mostly fluff, but all of that really happens.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Pomp, with Triumph, and with Revelling

* * *

The sunrise filtered in brilliantly coloured patches through an enormous stained glass window, and Barry stood in them appreciatively for several minutes before going to find a more normal window to see what Valois's palace looked like at this hour. Castle Wulfenbach still floated over Provence near the capital, the farthest west it had ever yet been, though as a courtesy it remained well outside the city limits. 

Tarvek was King, Klaus was regent, and Barry caught himself thinking _Everything can go back to normal now_ and then burst out laughing at himself. 

He was still smiling when he let himself in Klaus's study door. "Good morning." He paused and evaluated the arrangement of papers on the desk. "Tell me you didn't work all night."

"Certainly not. I was at a party for part of it, remember?" Klaus looked up with a faint smile. "Yes, I slept. I was just up early."

"And very efficient?"

"Naturally." 

Barry handed him a cup of coffee. "I suppose you've worn out your tolerance for ceremony for a while."

"Somewhat, yes," said Klaus, taking an appreciative sip of the coffee.

"Mm. When do you think it might be in good enough repair for a wedding?"

Klaus looked at him over the mug, eyebrows raised in surprise, and then smiled broadly. "I'll manage."

Barry beamed back, nearly as elated this morning as when Donna had first agreed. "We didn't want to try planning both at once, but at least this one will be smaller. And -- there is nobody I'd rather have stand up with me."

"So that's why my tolerance for ceremony was important," said Klaus, looking a little startled again. "I'd be honoured."

"I suppose you could probably cope with merely attending regardless," Barry conceded, still grinning. "But thank you."

"When are you having it?" Klaus asked. "You need to leave enough time for the entirety of Europa to walk from here to Mechanicsburg."

"Smaller!" Barry protested, laughing. "I did say smaller. We were thinking late summer, though."

"It's only going to be smaller if you have the Castle keep people out," said Klaus, shaking his head and chuckling.

"Well, we're only inviting the Polar Ice Lords this time if you think they need to be intimidated," Barry said. "They'll probably stay home, at least, I don't think they're fans."

"I don't really need you to scare your wedding guests," said Klaus. "Which means the Fifty Families will probably be staying away as well. We may get away with fewer nobles, and if we get people from the Great Houses I'm sure Mechanicsburg will be delighted to entertain them. Or vice versa. I was more thinking of tourists."

"Fair point," Barry said. "The inns will probably be packed throughout the valley, but I'm sure we can save room for the invited guests in the Cathedral." He was happy for everybody else to want to celebrate with them, but their actual family and friends took priority. Although he didn't particularly want to recruit the Castle to make sure of that. On the other hand, it could certainly solve the problem of lodging them away from the crowds. Barry stopped to review that thought and rubbed his eyes. "...And I just found myself seriously considering whether to house everybody who's actually invited in the Castle."

Klaus laughed. "I'm sure it would love that, but there is such a thing as getting too used to Mechanicsburg."

"You'd think that would have happened before I was forty or not at all," Barry muttered.

"Did you think it hadn't?" Klaus asked. "I remember when you used to talk to the laboratories in Beetleburg."

"...Touché."

Klaus stood up and clapped Barry on the shoulder. "We can house them on the airship if necessary and fly them down for the wedding day. But Carson will probably figure something out."

"I might take you up on that at least for Aunt Gertrude," Barry said wryly. "That or ask the Abbess to put her up in the Cathedral itself."

"She's always welcome here," said Klaus, with genuine enthusiasm. He might be willing to house as many guests as necessary, but he liked Barry's aunt.

"I will come pry you two out of the lab that morning if I have to," Barry said cheerfully. Not that either of them was especially prone to getting carried away, but there were probably going to be contingency plans for retrieving every Spark in the wedding party in the event of distraction. Including him and Donna.

"As the best man isn't it my job to do that to you?" Klaus returned.

"Ah, but most of my labs are in Castle Heterodyne," Barry pointed out. "I'm fairly sure it would literally throw me out of the building before it would let me miss my own wedding."

"If you arrive through the ceiling we'll know why."

* * *

It had been carefully arranged that all the pageantry of Tarvek's coronation would not reflect any abrupt administrative changes. The day after was still a busy time, but Barry and Donna still managed to carve out a few quiet hours in the evening not only for themselves but for Klaus and Tarvek, which was even more challenging. (Donna felt that this was really mostly Barry's accomplishment, especially the last bit.) 

They collected the children and gathered in Adam and Lilith's quarters partly because Adam and Lilith enjoyed entertaining and partly because, for some reason, nobody tended to think to look for Klaus and Barry there. 

"We thought you should know," Barry said as they settled down to dinner, "that we're back to planning the wedding."

"Have you set a date?" Lilith asked. Adam frowned, catching her eye, and she paused. "Wait, had you not already set a date?"

"We'd thought about the turn of the year," said Donna, "but as Barry was going to be a _little_ preoccupied, we decided we'd better put it off a bit." 

Barry smiled at her wryly. "Donna took that significantly better than the Castle did." 

Lilith put her drink down, laughing. "Oh dear. I'm sure." 

"When is it now?" Agatha asked eagerly. "Am I in it?"

"We think midsummer, and...." Donna glanced between her and Barry with a touch of mischief. "Does she need to officially give you permission as part of the ceremony or are we looking at something more like flower girl?" 

"I'll check," Barry said, amused, while Klaus rubbed at his upper lip in an evident effort not to snicker. "Obviously Bill didn't need anyone's permission." He drew a sharp breath and went on before past losses could cast too long a shadow. "I've asked Klaus to stand up with me already but I hope you'll all be involved."

"Always. Are you still planning to keep it fairly quiet?" Lilith asked.

"So far as we can," said Barry. "We're not closing up Mechanicsburg, but we're inviting mostly friends and family." He grinned at Donna. "Which, admittedly, seems to include half of Jibou...."

"Half?" Donna asked innocently. 

"So, tourists, but not the aristocracy because they won't come without invitations," said Klaus. "Although they may complain about not getting them."

"They'll cope," Barry said. "This is going to be _much_ less complicated than the coronation and, whatever the Castle thinks, won't affect them as much." 

"I was thinking about using the same gown, though, if you don't mind," Donna mused. "I like that one." 

Barry looked over at her with a light in his eyes that reminded her of when he'd first seen the gown yesterday -- despite the distraction of re-engineering Agatha's coiffure. "I can't think why I'd mind _that_."

"Some of the same people will probably be at both," Tarvek protested. "They'll notice."

Donna blinked. For most of her life, when she thought about it, she had rather assumed that if she ever did get married, she'd wear her nicest dress but not necessarily have one made. New _jewelry_ maybe, and perhaps a sword if her husband used one. Of course the coronation had been several levels beyond the degree of formality of most events in Jibou. "I'm not sure most of the overlap besides Jägers isn't currently in this room, and I'm not sure they'd really _care_...." She paused. "Well, apparently you will?"

"People will come to report on it," said Tarvek. "And I expect some people who can afford to will come to see one of the Heterodyne Boys get married, even if they were at the coronation."

"Well... yes, probably...."

"So you have to put on a show," Tarvek said with the assurance of one repeating a well known fact.

"I am not sure we're exactly on the same page here," said Barry.

“I could use a bookmark,” said Donna, feeling slightly relieved that at least she wasn’t the only one slightly wrong-footed. 

Tarvek looked confused. "Did you want them to say that you wore an old dress to your own wedding? I thought it was only the Baron who did things like that on purpose."

Barry looked over at Klaus, who was keeping an almost preternaturally straight face, and hastily looked away again before anybody's composure could crack. "The coronation had to be a show," he said to Tarvek. "I know people will be paying attention to the wedding, but... it's not for them."

"You're dressing up, though," said Tarvek. He looked at Donna doubtfully. "I guess if you just really like the dress..."

"I do really like the dress," Donna said. Although maybe, despite Barry's appreciation for it, she should consider whether it _would_ have a political effect. "It's significantly nicer than anything I'd previously imagined getting married in, and I'm not sure I need to put anybody to extra trouble." 

"You don't need to worry about _that_ ," Barry said instantly. 

"This is true," Lilith said in amusement. "As long as you give them a reasonable amount of warning, I'm not sure there's a dressmaker in Europa, let alone Mechanicsburg, who would be unhappy about the order. Anyway, haven't you been making new weapons for half the Jägers?"

Donna blinked. "I don't think I can possibly have gotten to half of them already, and I don't see what that has to do with --" She paused. "Well, I suppose in the sense of a gratifying challenge in your own calling...." Oh. 

"If you two actually prefer to keep things low-key," Lilith said, "I'm certainly not going to argue the point. I certainly don't think you need to turn your own wedding into a show for people who aren't even attending. However...." She paused delicately. "You went to some trouble to avoid dominating everyone's attention at Tarvek's coronation. You might want to bear in mind that this time you're _supposed_ to."

"Well, yes--" Barry stopped. Looked at Lilith. "You think Mechanicsburg would appreciate it."

Lilith raised her eyebrows. "Well, I don't know that they'll particularly care if Donna's worn the same dress before, but you know they'll consider the occasion a good deal more significant."

"I'm not sure it's actually possible to come up with a more spectacular dress, though," Barry said.

Lilith's mouth twitched. "Oh, _Barry._ It was lovely, but I see we have found the direction in which your talents do not lie." 

"Hey!" Barry protested, laughing.

"But really, we have all seen your sense of drama. I _came to life_ to your sense of drama." Okay, Donna was going to have to ask about _that_ story later. "If you two are toning things down because you're in the midst of the letdown from planning the coronation, for goodness' sake wait a week to commit to anything, or you'll be changing plans on everybody you already talked to." 

Barry burst out laughing at that, and Donna leaned back in her chair, thinking about what Mechanicsburg had done to celebrate Agatha's fifth birthday. The wedding didn't need to be a show for Europa, no. But for her family, and his town, and even for the tourists who came for a glimpse of him -- as she might have, if things were different.... 

....And for each other.....

"Maybe I will have a new dress designed." Donna smiled. "And I might have another idea, if we're going to make this spectacular, but I'd need to talk to the Castle."

* * *

"You're sure about this," Barry said, for about the fifth time not counting over dinner. 

"Yes." Donna didn't reiterate her reasoning, not in the Castle's hearing. She wasn't fooling herself about its attitude or its sense of humour -- at least, she tried to avoid that -- but she thought it would appreciate this. 

"All right." Barry led her into a comfortable sitting room and let go of her hand. "Castle, Donna wants to talk to you about the wedding." 

"Really?" The Castle was actually too surprised to be suggestive, that was a first.

Donna felt this meant they were off to a good start. "Really." 

"We've covered this before with regard to tourists, but do keep in mind that if you interpret anything involved as permission to kill, maim, or imprison the wedding guests, you're mistaken." Barry took a deep breath. "That said... she wants to surprise me. So, I'm going to leave, and you're to cooperate with her, not tell me the plan, and if necessary route me around the preparations in the interim."

"Oh, this does sound fun," said the Castle.

Barry _looked_ at her. Donna squeezed his hand. "I certainly hope so," she said. 

"So do I," said Barry. "Hopefully that covers everything." He kissed her, almost as if he weren't worried, and left the room. 

Donna dropped into the armchair that was edging up behind her, and regarded the ceiling. “I have this idea for the ceremony in the Cathedral."

"I can't see that part," the Castle said, sounding grumpy. "I never get invited to the wedding ceremony. It's very unfair."

Donna was a little surprised they'd never just done the ceremony in the Chapel, but then, from Barry's description there wasn't much space and the footing was poor. "...Does that mean you don't want to help?" Or that it would, as she hoped, be pleased to be involved?

"Of course I want to help! I've been given permission to surprise the Lord Heterodyne. It's just that if it's the ceremony you want help with then I may be somewhat... limited. Unfortunately."

"No, no, I don't _think_ it will be a problem. How close to the main doors does your influence extend?"

" _Very_ close," said the Castle. "Did you want a pit trap?"

"That is not _quite_ the kind of entrance I was hoping to make," she said. "But I'm going to have to trust you to exert some very precise control."

"My control is excellent," said the Castle haughtily.

"So I've seen. This is going to be a little tricky, but believe me, I wouldn't bring it up if I didn't think you could handle it."

"Why, Miss DuLac," the Castle purred. "Are you flattering me?"

She let her head fall back against the back of the chair. "Perhaps a little. I do want to be on your good side for this." She paused, then added teasingly, "Wait, do you have a good side?"

"All my sides are magnificent. But I wouldn't use that term for them, no," said the Castle. "I am however, at your service."

Donna grinned. And told it her plan.

* * *

"Hyu plannink a botanical experiment?"

Donna looked up from her contemplation of a florist's display to find General Gkika looming amiably over her. "Not my field, I'm afraid," she said with a smile. "I was contemplating wedding flowers." She brushed a hand across a cluster of brilliant pink blossoms on a shrub. It felt odd to say something quite so... _girly_ to Gkika. "I rather like oleander, but not in a cut bouquet."

"Hy tink maybe zumting not poisonous." 

Donna paused. Lady Schallen had said much the same thing earlier. Donna had thought perhaps it was a local opinion about the symbolism, but she didn't think Schallenburg and Mechanicsburg were likely to share a lot of those. "No?"

"A previous Lady Heterodyne haff autumn crocus," said Gkika, with a slightly unnerving grin, "und fed it to her husband zum years later."

_Oh._ "I can see where that might be an implication to avoid," said Donna. Oleander was 'beware' in flower language, which was a little odd for a wedding but didn't seem particularly out of place at one where they planned to ring the Doom Bell. Autumn crocus's message of 'the best days of my life are over' was... pointedly appropriate for a captive bride. "Well, that explains why I got the same advice from her sister."

"Vell, dot's a goot sign," said Gkika, grin more amused and less strange.

Donna snorted. "She does like him, now that they've finally met. And while I can't say nobody's plotting to poison him it's certainly not me. But I'll look into choosing a more cheerful bouquet."

"Dere's alvays somevun," said Gkika philosophically, and then startled her with a quick hug. "Didn't tink it vould be hyu."

* * *

"Barry," Donna said experimentally. When he looked up from the workbench and swung around to face her, she asked, "How do you feel about daylilies?"

Barry pushed his goggles back and blinked at her. "They're nice, I guess. I don't have any strong emotional associations with them. Am I about to develop one?" 

"Mm." She went over and sat down next to him. "Your aunt and General Gkika have both independently advised me not to choose toxic wedding flowers." 

"Ah." Barry put an arm around her, looking pensive. "Yes, I found out the relevance... not that long ago, myself." A pause, and a thoughtful look, with a tiny startled smile. "Daylilies are edible. Making a point?"

"I knew you were smart," Donna said, feeling absurdly pleased. "They'd make very pretty refreshments. And you can stuff them with all sorts of things. Ice cream, fish, cheese... er, not all together, of course...."

"Snail gelato, maybe," Barry suggested. 

"...What?" 

"You haven't had snail gelato yet? It's early enough I could even still get some of the Phosphorescent Devils and engineer them for an extended season." He paused, considering. "Or just freeze some, in case that doesn't work out."

"You and your snails," Donna said, bemused. "Sure. Daylilies stuffed with snail gelato."

He grinned at her. "And anything else you like. But not all together." 

Donna laughed and kissed him.

* * *

The wedding preparations, from Barry's daylily engineering to Donna's conspiracy with the Castle, really ended up being an enormous amount of _fun_. And despite any previous uncertainties on the subject, presenting the best dressmaker in Mechanicsburg with spider-gossamer and the instruction to 'outdo the other gown' had resulted in a look of delight possibly approaching holy fervor. (From the dressmaker. Barry had actually looked slightly unsettled.)

Donna rather thought he'd like the result. _She_ certainly did. Her coronation gown had not exactly been what she'd call subdued and retiring -- she'd been rather less at risk of stealing the spotlight than the Heterodynes and had wanted to do the occasion justice and show up well amidst a court determined to rival Valois's own for flashiness -- but this one had taken the inspiration and run with it. 

She paused in the dressing room and held out a hand to stop her mother, looking at it. Lilith stopped behind them, easily looking over their shoulders, and her bridesmaids all paused and turned to see what had her attention. 

They'd modified the colors significantly for other members of the wedding party -- the shades that flattered Donna did not have quite the same effect on Agatha, for instance -- but her wedding dress itself wasn't supposed to have green in it. The glint of steel was also somewhat out of place. 

Donna flipped a sheer bit of silk out of the way and a nyar spider peered up at her with all its eight eyes and waved a knife and fork she remembered forging. 

"Well," said her mother with deliberate heartiness, "they say a spider in your dress is meant to be lucky...."

Donna very carefully pinched the shoulders of the dress between her fingers and lifted it.

There were more spiders. 

There were spiders _everywhere_.

In every fold, between every layer -- and there were a lot of layers -- the dress was full of large spiders, and they streamed out of it, dropping to the floor or running down over the furniture or climbing onto her hands and running down _her_. Her mother let out a small shriek. Donna held very still and reminded herself that they were unlikely to bite, had traded her the silk for the dress, and it would probably be impolite to shudder. "It's all right, Mother, don't step on them, they're intelligent."

Her mother gave her a rather incredulous look -- Donna had had trouble believing in the Vermin Fair herself -- but obeyed. 

"Castle," Donna ventured, when there was no further risk of a spider running into her mouth, "what on earth?"

"They'd heard it was lucky too," said the Castle. "And they wanted to see how the dress turned out."

"That may be all the good luck I can cope with," Donna said with a slightly shaky laugh. Then, "...What did they think of it?"

"I'm not a spider translator," said the Castle. "You could ask one."

"There are spider translators?" her mother asked. 

"I don't think so," said Donna. They probably would have been doing a brisk business at the fair, although she wasn't sure that entirely ruled out the possibility. "You don't need to bring one if there are," she added quickly, as the Castle had at one point helpfully delivered a florist. 

“I don’t know of any,” Lilith said, amused. “I think it meant you’d have as much luck asking the spiders directly.”

Donna looked down. “I guess they probably approve?”

At any rate the spiders kept milling around their feet and climbing back on and off the dress until Lilith alerted not a spider translator but a housemaid, who brought a bottle of champagne and a large quantity of thimbles. As nyar spiders were known for their impeccable table manners (despite the fact that they did not ordinarily, in fact, eat at tables), perhaps Donna should have been prepared for them to all stand and simultaneously drink her health. At least, she was pretty sure that was what had just happened. But she really, really wasn't. 

Most of them departed after that, but one set down the thimble and scuttled back to the dress. All efforts to shoo it away failed utterly, and it clung determinedly to both gown and silverware like a very curious brooch until Donna gave up and put on the gown and veil complete with spider. She was decked with daylilies, and the walk to the Red Cathedral in the sun was short... and lined with elegant barriers (which Barry must have had design input on, because while immovable they did not feature bones) with tourists behind them. She sent everyone ahead to take their places, hanging back outside herself, provoking curious murmurs. She muttered, "One last chance," under her breath to the obstinate spider. 

Then she waved to the tourists and told the Castle she was ready.

* * *

Inside the Red Cathedral, everything was in place -- guests, wedding party, altar, enough flowers that the gargoyles were nearly obscured. Donna's relatives alone easily filled nearly half the pews, and Barry had had enough people he wanted to invite that Klaus had ended up teasing him about his definition of "small". (As Klaus had decided to build a kilometer-long dirigible Barry did not really take this to heart as a criticism.) He'd also judiciously filled in a few rows with Mechanicsburgers -- the von Mekkhans, of course, and the Jägergenerals and the ones who'd been with him underneath Sturmhalten.

Everything _was_ in place. It was time....

"Barry," Klaus said, nearly inaudibly, "relax. You're the last person I expected to be nervous about getting married."

"It's not the getting married part," Barry replied as softly as possible. "It's whatever Donna and the Castle are planning." 

"You trust Donna," Klaus reminded him, and perhaps more pertinently, "and her judgement, mostly--"

The doors opened. There was a _whoosh_ and the area immediately outside them erupted in a sheet of white flame.

Barry might have jumped. He was _not_ actually about to bolt outside to fix whatever had just happened, even if Klaus's hand hadn't clamped onto his upper arm to hold him in place. Really. This had to be the plan--

His heartbeat didn't slow as the fire shaded from white to delicate pink and gold, and then parted to frame Donna walking through it, vivid against the softer colors, silk streaming about her in fluttering layers that looked as if she'd really been gowned in flame. 

She stepped through the doors, like a forge spirit trailing fire, and then the flames winked out as suddenly as they'd arisen and she was walking up to him, flowers in her hands and hair and no sweat on her brow, eyes on him and smiling.

Barry finally remembered to breathe.

He actually also remembered he wasn't meant to kiss her until the end of the ceremony, but he did it anyway, resulting in a ripple of hushed laughter from the more decorous guests and whooping from the less decorous ones. Which mostly meant the Jägers and a couple of Donna's adolescent cousins. 

"Are you quite done?" asked the Bishop. (Barry had had to promise not to have him sacrificed. He had done so, with a pointed reminder that they hadn't done that since Bill took over.) 

"Never," said Donna under her breath. 

Barry grinned at her. "We can go on. Sorry."

Oh dear. He usually tried to stick to more sincere apologies than that.

The ceremony featured no further surprises, although their departure from the Cathedral was held up briefly when Agatha discovered she had eaten all the almonds she was supposed to throw, or possibly that she was supposed to throw the almonds she'd been eating, and hastily borrowed new ones from Gil, Tarvek, and several highly amused bridesmaids. The Jägers were also throwing almonds although, in deference to the fact that the bride and groom were human, they were throwing them over the happy couple rather than at them. They were, in fact, largely engaged in trying to knock one another's hats off.

To Barry's relief, this did not result in any actual hat-related brawls in the sanctuary, or at least they didn't stop anyone from spilling out of the Cathedral for the party. There was another ceremony yet, though. He squeezed Donna's hand. "Time for the Chapel."

"Of course."

* * *

Barry scooped her up and carried her across the threshold; it was one of the smaller ones, and even though he was nowhere close to knocking her against the doorjambs, she thought she saw them bow out of the way. Which was both a nice gesture and a rather remarkable reminder considering they were _stone_. Adam and Lilith came with them, silent but reassuring, even once they shooed off or lost everyone else who tried to follow. Donna was grateful. 

She had never been to the Heterodynes' Chapel. 

It was full of bones. 

Skulls were packed neatly across the floor and punctuated the walls, studded between large stripes of femurs down to intricate patterns of phalanges and ear bones. The only clear space was a massive stained-glass window that illuminated the altar in red. 

Donna took a deep breath. She was marrying -- she _had_ married Barry. The Castle was pleased about it -- the Castle had picked her out, and liked her. She was equally in its power everywhere else in the building, and nearly so in the rest of the town, and when it had fired the courtyard around her. She had nothing to fear here. This wasn't even a test. It was... documentation. 

The Chapel was a shrine to the family, more than anything else, and even though it had not seen human sacrifice for as long as the Red Cathedral, it was easy to imagine one here. 

Her eyes went to the basin and the knife. Barry put his hands on her shoulders -- she twitched a little as the persistent spider ran down her back -- and she glanced up to see him shake his head. "That's not it." 

"I did think it seemed a little low-tech."

The floor around them started to shake, making Donna cling to Barry to keep her footing on the skulls, and then a huge face folded upwards out of the floor. It was a mask, strangely reminiscent of the one on the front of Castle Wulfenbach, and it turned to stare at her with blank eyes. "Welcome, Lady Donna," it said. It was the Castle's voice, no less strangely resonant for coming from a mouth.

She swallowed and straightened. "Thank you, Castle," she said. She _would_ be calm. "I'm glad to be here. Or at least glad of the reason for it."

"You certainly should be," said the Castle. The mask grinned, showing off sharp teeth. "Don't worry too much. I won't kill you, whatever happens. But for now I need your blood."

"It would seem a little counterproductive," she said, and took a step forward on the skulls. "Although right now I am starting to worry for my ankles."

"You won't die from a twisted ankle," said the Castle. "And if you weren't even capable of walking across a room I never would have let you marry one of my Heterodynes."

There really wasn't any way to be respectful of the skulls, was there? She dug a foot underneath one and nudged it out of the way for a less wobbly place to step. "Tonight I mean to dance."

"Then walk carefully."

After that she rather expected it to start playing with the stones, but they held for the few remaining steps to the face, where she steadied herself with a hand on the mask's pallid cheek. "All right then. How does the test work?" It was a blood test; there should be points or edges -- she frowned at the mouth doubtfully. "If it's the teeth, I hope you can sharpen them."

"Those just hold you still," it said, opening its mouth wider. "Give me your hand."

Suddenly, strangely, the intimidation lifted. They'd had so much else to do, Barry had somehow never detailed the blood test -- even though he'd assured her the Castle checked every Heterodyne, and for reference every bride, and wasn't going to do serious harm. She had told him, laughing, that was not his best effort at reassurance, and they'd gotten distracted from the mechanism. All the drama of the Chapel, the light and the bones -- and it was going to _taste_ her. 

Donna made herself smile into the glowing eyes and stretched her arm between the teeth.

They clamped down on her arm, pressing against her uncomfortably but certainly in no danger of piercing the skin. Things moved inside the mouth, against her hand, and she swallowed a nervous giggle as she pictured a mechanical tongue. A long moment later she caught herself counting breaths and bit back the urge to suggest the Castle get on with it. If the needle or blade was sharp enough, would she even know--

Something sliced into the web of her thumb, and the sudden pain made her jump -- it was just as well she couldn't actually move. Hot blood trickled across her hand, and she let her breath out again as the pressure eased away. She pulled her arm out to inspect it, flexing her hand. Cuts could be deceptive, but this one didn't seem deep, although it was certainly more than a token scratch. _Was I tasty?_ she thought, and discarded that as unwise along with _I could sharpen that for you, you know._ Motion made the blood run, but she didn't think there was any damage to the muscle. She held her hand away from her gown before it could drip, and looked up when Barry caught it. He hadn't even made any noise walking over the wobbly skulls. 

"It's a little gentler with small children," he said wryly, wiping her hand clean and clamping down firmly to stop the bleeding. "Believe it or not."

"I should think so, if they're Heterodynes."

He cleared his throat. "I didn't realise until we got here that I had left out some major details."

"I'll say it added to the experience," Donna said, which got her a grateful look and her second kiss from her husband. _Hers._ A sudden streak of triumphant glee ran through her. She clenched a fist around the gauze so she wouldn't bleed on him and threw her arms around his neck, there among the skulls.

* * *

Adam eventually cleared his throat, with a soft amused huff, and the Castle said in reluctant tones, "I suppose you _do_ have a party to get to." 

Barry broke off the kiss to finish bandaging Donna's hand properly and retorted, "You just want to make your part of the announcement." 

"Also an important part of the celebration," it said loftily. "And welcome to the family, Lady Donna."

"Thank you again," she said, and then an expression of sheer mischief came over her face and, to Barry's incredulous delight, she kissed the great mask-face right on the cheek before turning to let him help her over the skulls. 

"...I do believe that's a first," the Castle rumbled. "Welcome to the family indeed."

They went back out to the square, where the Castle proclaimed them -- just in case anyone had missed it -- and their guests swarmed back around them, a few asking where they'd been. Barry steered them all toward the tables and, when everyone was at least in the vicinity, raised his voice to call out, "I would like to invite all our guests to sit down -- _especially if you aren't from Mechanicsburg_ \-- before the Doom Bell rings."

Donna latched firmly onto his arm as everyone hastily sought seats. "Not letting go this time."

"Told you I'd make it up to you," he murmured. "--Hold still, you've got a spider." 

"I know." She intercepted his hand before he could remove the nyar spider from her shoulder. "It's very determined."

Barry gave her a puzzled look but let the spider be.

Agatha had taken a seat between Gil and Tarvek and was holding onto their hands very tightly. Barry checked that everyone in sight had reached a stable position -- except Klaus, who was stubborn enough to remain standing but did know how to handle it -- before signaling the Castle. Donna's grip on his arm tightened as the not-sound of the Doom Bell washed over them, and some of the color went out of her lips, but she didn't crumple. 

Barry leaned down to kiss her. And then _their_ bells began.

They were soft and silvery and joyful, tones of comfort and excitement and every kind of happiness that Barry and Donna could find a note for. A soft chair and a warm hug at the end of a hard day. A lone bird in an autumn sky, drawing a wistful happiness. Waking up as a child on a day you've long looked forward to. Seeing someone you care about achieve something wonderful. A little carillon of everyday happinesses to offset the booming non-sound of despair.

Wedding party and guests alike stirred; woke up where necessary; straightened in their chairs and breathed easier. Agatha let go of her friends' hands and clapped, which set everybody else off. Barry leaned over her and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "Haven't spoiled your dinner with those almonds, have you?"

Agatha shook her head, grinning, and then turned around and knelt up in her chair so she could reach to hug him. "Congratulations," she said, and then waved at Donna to come over and hug her too.

"Thank you." Barry smiled at her and made room for Donna to descend on her new niece in a flutter of bright silk. Against Agatha's green the colors looked even more like the wedding bouquet and the... yes, there they came, the platters heaped with stuffed flowers being brought out as appetisers.

His Aunt Gertrude watched this arrival with a faint smile and then turned to Donna with a very warm one, and raised eyebrows. "A lovely choice of refreshments."

Donna smiled back. "Watch out for the snail gelato."

Gertrude blinked. "The... what?"

"They're not _all_ snail gelato," Barry said patiently. "Only the ones with little snail-shaped curlicues on them."

Gkika -- part of the honour guard rather than seated at the table although no one who knew Jägers would expect that to stop her eating the refreshments -- quirked him a delighted grin and turned the colour of the daylilies.

Donna spotted the shift and picked up a stuffed daylily (with snail) to hand to Gkika, beaming. "Your advice was invaluable," she said. "Both of you." She looked at Barry, eyes dancing. "And yes, all right, as promised, I will try the snail gelato."

"I still don't know why _this_ is what strikes you as so strange," Barry said, amused. 

He offered her one and she leaned forward and bit it carefully. "I am not sure anybody outside Mechanicsburg thinks sweet snail dishes are normal," she said after contemplating it for a moment and then swallowing. "Although it is definitely interesting."

"I'm not sure anybody outside Mechanicsburg thinks letting Castle Heterodyne set the courtyard on fire is normal, either," Barry pointed out. 

Donna smiled and took the rest of the snail daylily. "But it was magnificent, wasn't it?"

"It was," said the Castle, its voice coming from the paving stones unexpectedly. "It's been a long time since I was last allowed to do that. Having you around will be such _fun_."

"I appreciated your indulging me," Donna told it, patting the ground with one foot. She shot Barry a very slightly wide-eyed glance -- the Castle talking about fun always sounded at least a little ominous -- but there was humour and delight in it too. Donna was well aware of the hazards of Castle Heterodyne (well, in principle -- an exhaustive catalogue might take the rest of their lives) but she enjoyed teasing it, which Barry still boggled at a little, and it seemed to respect her for also knowing that it had a vested interest in liking her.

The banquet was not _all_ stuffed into flowers. Barry had managed to engineer some that would actually fit the whole main course, but the petals were still disappointingly tough. And the wedding cake (secure on its chilled base) waited until dusk, when they cut into the base of it to reveal the glowing Dyne-coloured interior. 

Tarvek looked at it in alarm, clearly wondering if this was an incredibly unsubtle poisoning attempt. "I don't think you should eat that," he said.

Klaus's reaction was just as startled, but once he got over the surprise he more accurately determined the culprit. "What did you _do_ to it?" he asked Barry.

"Food colouring," Barry said happily. "It's okay, Tarvek, it's just glowing snail gelato."

Tarvek looked at him skeptically. " _How is that okay?_ "

"It's perfectly safe to eat. And it's delicious. Phosphorescent Devils make the best desserts anyway -- they already taste like mint -- this has just been a little enhanced." Trying not to laugh, Barry added, "But for those of you who really don't want any more snail, the upper tiers are only cake."

Tarvek did seem somewhat reassured, at least by the information he wouldn't have to eat it. Donna gave him a cake-only slice and whispered she was going to have one too.

* * *

The cake was distributed (with and without phosphorescent gelato). Franz, still yawning a little, came over to congratulate Barry, kiss Donna's hand (an operation of astonishing delicacy considering the size of his mouth), and partake of a large slice of cake and several of Barry's enormous daylilies, which _he_ didn't have any trouble chewing.

She and Barry opened the dancing together, were joined by Adam and Lilith, and then whirled off to dance with as many people as possible before the night was out. Having agreed to dance with a brief series of Jägers, Donna wasn't especially surprised when Jorgi grinned down very sharply at her and she noticed she was surrounded. "Ve neffer get to do this part vhen de bride haff _really_ been kidnapped," he said. 

"You won't get away with this unscathed!" Donna proclaimed, and pulled a small device from its hiding place in her skirts. Someone plucked it out of her hand. 

It promptly exploded, showering a four-meter radius in floral perfume.

"Pfui!" Jorgi sputtered, sneezed, and then let go of her to fan the air. "Hyu vin this time," he called as she darted away. "How many of those hyu got?" 

Six, actually, which might -- depending on how they played along -- have gotten her all the way back across the square to Barry. But that would have spoiled the game. She set off two more, one of which also doused half her own bridesmaids who had tried to help trap her, before Ognian showed up carrying Agatha.

"Hi," said Agatha, wiggling around in Ognian's arms to face Donna. "Would you come with us, please?"

Donna curtsied to her. "When you ask so nicely, how can I say no?"

"Hy knew Mizz Agatha voz der best weapon," said Ognian.

"She's too cute not to be," Donna said, taking his arm and fighting down a laugh when his nostrils flared and he blinked rapidly at the perfume clinging to her. "So where are we going?"

"Hyu vill find out!" he said. Which Donna did soon enough, because it really didn't take them long to reach Gkika's bar.

* * *

The first thing Barry noticed was a perfume scent that didn't belong to the daylilies and didn't seem to be attached to any individual person. When he scanned the dimming square he realised he couldn't see Donna anywhere and, further, he seemed to have misplaced several Jägers. Possibly all the bridesmaids. And, oddly, Agatha. 

...Well, he didn't for one second believe either the Jägers or the Castle would have permitted either Agatha or Donna to _actually_ go missing so quietly. There would be blood on the stones. He sighed and went to find Klaus, who turned out to be discussing biomechanics with Gertrude. "I believe my honour guard has made off with my bride. I don't suppose either of you saw them go?"

Gertrude paused for a moment and then asked as delicately as possible, "With permission?"

Barry shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it was a run-of-the-mill wedding prank. Although to add a slightly bizarre element I might be able to track them by scent."

"What on earth did they use to kidnap her, then?" Klaus asked.

Barry's mouth twitched. "I don't think _they_ were using the perfume...."

"All right, let's go and track down aromatic Jägers," said Klaus.

"Sorry to steal your conversation partner, Aunt Gertrude." Barry hugged her. "I'll bring him back later." She waved him off and he set off toward the wafts of floral scent, although he had a fairly strong suspicion where they'd gone anyway.

"Did they do this at Bill's wedding?" Klaus asked. 

Barry snorted. (And rather wondered if the unspoken follow-up question might be _and if so, what did Lucrezia do to them?_ ) "It wasn't here. Lucifer wasn't willing to set foot in Mechanicsburg. He and Demonica did try to capture Bill for real, though."

"Should I ask if they were planning on killing him or whether Demonica wanted to keep him?" Klaus asked.

"Well, it's a reasonable question, but I don't actually know."

"Congratulations on having a much more reasonable wedding."

Barry laughed. "In Mechanicsburg, no less. That's saying something."

The trail led, not surprisingly, toward Mamma Gkika's. Barry stopped at the end of the street and tried to rearrange his features into a stern expression. This was a real challenge when he kept remembering that he was following heavily flower-scented Jägers.

"You're not convincing," Klaus told him.

Barry gave up and snickered. "I was afraid of that." He settled for halfway serious and marched down the street and into the bar.

He was greeted by a chorus of shouts, "Ve haff her!" "Hyu'll neffer take her!" "Hi, Master Barry!" as the Jägers got into character or failed to. Donna, sitting in front of the bar with her bridesmaids gathered around her and Agatha perched on the bar, was failing to look serious either.

"I see you've all been conspiring against me," Barry growled. 

Klaus's composure cracked with a muffled snort.

"Vot iz hyu gonna do about it?" Gorb yelled back and the Jägers swarmed between Barry and Donna in a way that would have looked menacing to anyone who didn't know them. Fangs and claws in evidence, but body language easy rather than intent and ears playfully perked forwards on those with mobile ones, not folded back.

Barry noticed with some fascination that not only Donna but her bridesmaids looked completely comfortable with the situation. He let the harmonics of the madness place tinge his voice and roared, _"I will have your hats for this!"_

The Jägers gasped and several of them grabbed dramatically at their hats, before sweeping forwards with a cheerful roar. They seemed to have decided that the aim was to sweep Barry out of the bar -- they weren't even hitting him, they were just very solid.

Barry let himself be pushed back initially -- there wasn't much choice. 

Back into jumping reach of one of the trophies on the wall, and then he went up and over.

The Jägers cheered and swarmed after him, launching themselves from tables with such enthusiasm that most of them tangled themselves up with one another in the air. The ones who managed to leave the ground more definitely bounced from chandeliers and trophies, making determined attempts to grab at Barry's clothes.

It made for an utterly ridiculous obstacle course. Of course they _could_ have outraced and overpowered him in this kind of contest, but then he wasn't breaking out sleep rays either, and he gave them a good run before he finally dropped from the ceiling next to Donna and seized her for a kiss, somewhat hampered by laughter on both sides. (Although she was doing better than the bridesmaid who had giggled so hard she slid off her stool to the floor.) "I have you now," he intoned, giving up on the kiss for the moment, "surrounded by my most loyal--" He gave in and cracked up again at this point as about half the Jägers hastily rearranged themselves and the rest cried foul on his reframing the situation. "Aw, I can't keep this up. What did you _do_? It smells like a perfume factory in here!" 

"Cananga bombs," Donna said cheerfully. "It seemed like an appropriate penalty."

"Bleh," said Jorgi, who was one of the most strongly scented. "Vos schneaky and underhanded." Although he didn't sound disapproving.

"I try," Donna said modestly. 

"She got us too!" said Maeva, as Klaus helpfully picked her up off the floor and she managed to stop laughing quite so hard. 

"I can _tell_ ," said Barry. 

"It really did end up as a conspiracy," Donna explained, leaning over to tuck an escaping braid back against Maeva's head and confine it with a hairpin. "The Jägers took it over because my dear cousins couldn't agree on where to go."

"And then you ran out of perfume bombs?"

"Oh, I've still got half of them," Donna admitted. "Oggie cheated."

"... _Oggie_ cheated?" 

"He got Agatha involved." Agatha giggled at this and Donna grinned at her. "She said please."

"Oh, I see." Barry paused. "Well thought of, Agatha -- and Oggie -- but this does complicate matters. I understand I ordinarily owe everybody involved alcohol," here he had to pause for cheering and then raised his voice to add, "which seems a _little_ backward from how I'd usually handle such a situation but _never mind_... but Agatha, you're a little young for hard liquor." 

Agatha looked thoughtful. "I could take chocolate instead," she suggested. "Or lab-grade ethanol!"

"Since you're not currently in a lab," said Klaus, looking amused, "perhaps stick to chocolate."

Barry almost said that given the available reagents this almost might as _well_ be a lab, but thought better of it. Agatha should not actually be encouraged to experiment with Gkika's beverages and/or cleaning supplies in the absence of a strong immediate need to improvise. "Chocolate for the Lady Heterodyne, then," he said. "--With nuts in it."

"Yay!"

* * *

Agatha returned to the square munching on her bar of chocolate and feeling pleased with herself. Also still a little inclined to giggle at the fight she'd just witnessed -- adults didn't play often enough (unless they were Jägers) and it was good to see Uncle Barry and Aunt Donna having fun properly. Thinking about playing, just where had Gil and Tarvek gone? Tarvek could take parties too seriously and act like an adult at them, but in Mechanicsburg he relaxed a bit more and Gil had made friends here every time he visited.

"Mistress!" a voice called from the other side of the square and Agatha turned to see Vanamonde waving at her.

"Hi, Van!" she called back, running over. "Where is everyone?"

Van smiled mysteriously. "I'll show you," he said.

"Were you waiting for me?" Agatha asked, feeling a bit bad that Van had been left out of whatever was going on to look for her. She broke off the unbitten end of her chocolate bar for him as an apology.

"Of course!" he said, taking it. "I'm your seneschal, it's my job to co-ordinate you with your minions."

Not all the children he led her to were Agatha's minions -- aside from Gil and Tarvek in the middle of them quite a lot were Aunt Donna's relatives, Agatha's new cousins, who seemed to have been welcomed into Mechanicsburg by a friendly mob. They were all on the airship platform where the little dirigible that would take everyone back to Castle Wulfenbach that night was tied.

She climbed up, intrigued. "Okay, what are we--" Agatha paused as they parted to make room for her at the dirigible. There was a pile of old shoes on the platform -- in many cases _pieces_ of old shoes, snapped sandal straps or soles with gaping holes in them, things so worn that even Uncle Barry would have had trouble repairing them. Some were already tied to the dirigible, attached to spare lines and rings on the outside. "... _Why_ are we doing it?"

Anja, Gil's first friend in Mechanicsburg and a bit of a ringleader to some of the children, looked up with a grin. "It's traditional!" she said. "Because the Lord Heterodyne and his wife are going to leave in it. It's for good luck and fertility."

"Oh! Okay." Agatha picked one up and attached it, and everybody crowded around happily again. "So how are old shoes good luck?" She understood that this kind of thing was basically a symbolic way to wish somebody well, but sometimes she had no idea what the symbols were supposed to _be_.

"No idea," said Anja, looking around to see if anyone else knew.

Nobody did. Tarvek looked slightly embarrassed about this. They spent a while making up possibilities -- one of the older children suggested it represented a long life's journey together -- but whatever the answer was, if old shoes meant good luck than Uncle Barry and Aunt Donna ought to have a _lot_ of it, because there were going to be about as many of them as the little dirigible could fit. 

"I think you need something heavier," the Castle announced in critical tones.

"Are heavy things good luck too?" Gil asked.

"Yes," said the Castle. "Yes, they are. Let me see if I can locate some gravity-enhancing boots."

Gil was looking dubious now and Tarvek cleared his throat. "They can untie stuff, you know," he said.

"You could hide them," said the Castle. "It will be fun!"

Agatha considered that. She wouldn't really stop everyone going home for the night, but she was pretty sure that Uncle Barry could find the gravity enhancing shoes if he looked, and it _would_ be funny. "Okay," she said.

"--Really?! Excellent!" The Castle almost sounded like it was tripping over its own words. Agatha tried not to giggle at it. "Let me see, where _were_ those last stored... I _do_ hope Master Zagnut remembered to turn them off...."

Anja looked slightly worried at this. "Mistress," she said, "From what I've heard about Master Zagnut... you maybe want to check the boots before turning them on."

Agatha nodded gravely. "I'll look carefully. I don't want to actually crash the dirigible."

"It's not as if it would be a terrible thing for them to spend the night here," the Castle said huffily.

"It's up to them, though," said Agatha, patting the platform. "You can't push them around for real."

There was a stony grumbling noise. "--But _you_ could point out it would be more appropriate, my lady."

"I don't want to push them around!" said Agatha. "This is just for fun, like the Jägers kidnapping Aunt Donna. So you have to behave when they figure it out, okay?"

"....Yes, my lady." A rumbly sigh. "And I thought we were getting along so _well_!" it added mournfully. 

"Is _that_ where you went?" Gil asked.

Agatha giggled. "Oggie used me as a secret weapon," she said.

Tarvek passed her another sandal. "How were you a secret weapon?"

"I was polite so she didn't throw a perfume bomb at me," said Agatha, stretching up to tie on the sandal.

"A _what_?" This question came from several quarters along with a lot of giggling. "Lady Donna threw perfume bombs at the _Jägers_?" Anja asked. 

"She had them set to go off if they were taken away from her, too," Agatha said. "I got to look at one. It was a very clever mechanism!"

A shadow fell over them suddenly and there were squeals from some of Aunt Donna's relatives and even the younger Mechanicsburgers as a gargoyle landed in their midst and held out a pair of shoes. "Thank you," said Agatha, taking them rather carefully. Although if they'd been switched on then the gargoyle probably couldn't have flown with them.

She sat down on the platform and opened up her toolkit. (She wasn't hiding perfume bombs in them, but she quite liked the little pockets the dressmaker had put in without making the skirt any less fluttery.) _She'd_ heard a few things about Great-Granduncle Zagnut, too.

* * *

Their return was greeted with applause, which might mean word had gotten around or might just mean everybody felt like cheering, and Barry claimed another dance with Donna and kept a slightly better eye on her as the Torchmen took over illuminating the party. 

Many of the adults would have been happy to dance all night, but some of them had children to put to bed -- which made a handy excuse for Barry and Donna to cry off early. They collected everyone who was returning to Castle Wulfenbach and made their way back to the dirigible they'd come in. The platform was full of children, only some of whom were going up with them, and about half of them rushed Donna to hug her. Gil rushed at Klaus. Agatha was dozing against Tarvek, sitting against the windward railing to catch the breeze, until the general surge woke her up and she jumped to her feet, blinking and swaying a little but beaming. 

Their airship was absolutely covered in shoes. They'd even bedecked the gasbag. Barry was honestly impressed. "You kids," he said, "are _thorough_."

"We wanted to make sure you had plenty of good luck, Lord Heterodyne," said Van, proudly.

Barry smiled at him. "I think you've got that covered." 

"Literally," Donna added. 

Vanamonde beamed. 

They got into the airship, shut the doors, and started takeoff procedures.

The smell of ylang-ylang flowers grew rapidly more overpowering than even in Mamma Gkika's. It was a lovely smell. There was just a _lot_ of it.

Several of the Jägers, who had never been known to balk at the stench of the battlefield, rubbed their noses. Three sneezed. Those who hadn't been in close range of Donna's defences elbowed those who had. 

After a moment, Klaus said, sounding as if he were both smothering laughter and possibly actually trying not to breathe, "I would like to point out that some of us did nothing to deserve this."

Barry cleared his throat and shut down the engines. "Donna, sweetheart, if I'd known what you were planning I'd have picked a ship with an open gondola. Okay, everybody who got perfume bombed, _out_. Bathtime!"

This had almost the effect on Jägers it would on dogs, but they didn't actually want to carry on smelling floral and their companions were eager to elbow them out, so they went with only half-hearted protests.

Lilith leaned over to Donna. “In case you can’t smell yourself anymore,” she said, eyes bright with amusement, “I feel it may be my duty to inform you --”

Donna, who had naturally been near the centre of all three explosions, stood up laughing. "I'm amazed everyone put up with it as long as we were dancing." 

Barry left the engines and came to give her his arm. "There was a _little_ more fresh air at that point."

"Ah!" The exclamation rattled up from the stones around the platform. "Are you coming with her, Master Barry?" Wait, had he actually managed to startle Castle Heterodyne? 

"And are you sure it's a good idea?" Klaus put in. 

"Yes," Barry said, and glanced back over his shoulder with a grin, then looked at Donna warmly. "And yes. We'll be back." Which was as much a command to the Castle as anything else. 

They did return. Admittedly not entirely dry -- Donna’s dress clung damply more than fluttering, which was not a less attractive look -- and somewhat later than the Jägers; the younger children were gone from the platform by then, and not only Agatha but Tarvek had fallen asleep inside the airship. Agatha was curled on Adam’s lap; Gil appeared to have propped Tarvek between himself and Lilith. The Jägers cheered their return _quietly_. Perhaps there was still a floral aroma clinging to various articles of clothing, but it was at least enough less overwhelming that everyone could breathe on the way up.

Or would have been able to if going up had actually happened, instead of the dirigible lurching and then moving forward at exactly the same distance from the ground.

Barry checked the gas storage and engines quickly, and found nothing. The airship started to list. Barry steered it back over to the platform to set down, for the second false start of the night. Agatha woke up again at the bump and looked around. 

Barry shot Klaus a puzzled look. "We didn't take one of the ones with idiosyncratic requirements, did we? The engines aren't allergic to cake or something?" This sounded ridiculous, but Klaus's approach to keeping certain Sparks out of trouble via distraction meant there were laboratories on board Castle Wulfenbach with some very strange restrictions. One area couldn't be entered if you'd touched a cucumber in the past two days.

"No, this one is normal," said Klaus. "At least, in that respect."

"Do you _have_ engines that are allergic to cake?" Gertrude asked. 

"Not as such," Klaus began, "but--"

Here Agatha started to giggle. 

Barry raised his eyebrows at her and then sat down between Adam and Donna to prop his chin in one hand and regard his niece with exaggerated suspicion. "Now, I'm not sure anti-cake engines are quite _that_ funny. What've you been up to this time?"

Agatha muffled her laughter behind her hands and shook her head.

"Probably the shoes," Barry decided. Otherwise they might actually have to take the airship apart. He held out a hand to Donna. "Out we go again, my lady."

Klaus and Gertrude followed them, but it was Donna who spotted the boots. "These look a little newer than the rest," she said.

"Well, not exactly," Barry said ruefully, coming around to shine a light on the heavy metallic devices that had only been camouflaged by the chaos of similar shapes. "Older, but significantly less used." It wasn't even that Sparky a fix, since unlike some of his family's developments, these actually came with an off switch.

The Castle sighed loudly.

"I should have figured it was something you'd put her up to," said Barry, leaning against the hull to take one boot apart and make sure there wasn't an automated reactivation mode or anything.

"She was so co-operative at first," the Castle lamented. "And then she made me promise to let you go once you figured it out."

Donna laughed. "She understands you well, I see."

Barry grinned at her. "Good for her."

"Hmph. I don't know why you're so determined not to spend the night in me," said the Castle, sulkily. "I've had myself dusted and all the linen aired."

"And the bath was lovely," said Donna, almost innocently. (Which was true, although after several overenthusiastic offerings regarding soap, it had been necessary to insist that the goal was to depart smelling _less_ like flowers than she had started.) 

"It was," Barry admitted. "But we don't really feel compelled to have the rest of the night witnessed, thank you all the same."

"You're very inconsiderate," the Castle grumbled.

"You're very nosy," Barry countered. But he couldn't even manage to be annoyed at it right now. He set the deactivated shoes on the platform. "Put those back in storage, please."

A gargoyle swooped down to grab them rather than the ground swallowing them up. It must have been waiting rather nearby from the speed with which it arrived, too.

"If no one's arranged any more diversions," Klaus said, nearly hiding a smile. "Then I think it's time we got going."

"I think it is." They re-embarked, Klaus going to the controls this time. Barry, last on the airship, paused in the doorway and looked back. "Good night, Castle."

"Good night, Master Barry," it said, resigned.

"You'll see us again soon." A pause. "Maybe I'll have to involve you in some more special effects." 

" _Ooh...._ "

Then he stepped inside and took Donna's hand as she smiled at him, and the airship rose into the night sky.

* * *


End file.
